Chapter 2: Changes

Edward was standing outside Bella's dorm room, waiting for her to come out. "Wow you look beautiful," he murmured when he saw her.

"So it's not too fancy?" She asked.

"No, you look gorgeous," he replied.

He placed his hands on her waist as he leaned forward to kiss her. She kissed him back, her hands on the sides of his neck. He pulled away with a smile. "We should get going," he murmured. She nodded and he wrapped his arm around her back as they left the dormitories.

(Coup des Tartes)

Edward pulled the chair out for her and she sat down. "Wow, talk about fancy," she commented.

"Well, this is a special evening so I thought to take you to the fanciest restaurant in Phoenix," he answered.

He sat down across from her. "It feels weird doesn't it? That we've been together for five years," she commented. He shrugged slightly.

"Doesn't feel like five years that's for sure, love," he answered, kissing her knuckles.

She smiled and Edward stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Do you remember the day you asked me out?" Bella asked. Edward laughed slightly and sat back.

"Yeah, it was homecoming, I was having letters stuffed in my locker for weeks from all the girls that were asking me to go to the dance with them, but a certain new girl caught my eye," he commented.

"Yes, I had just moved to Forks," she answered.

"Right," he agreed.

"You were so shy to come up and ask me out on a date," she commented with a giggle.

"Well your face turned beat red when I did ask," he chuckled.

Bella smiled at the memory. "But then we met up at the dance and you were so beautiful," he murmured.

"You weren't bad looking yourself that night," she answered.

Edward smiled as their dinner arrived.

Later that evening, Edward and Bella were walking hand in hand down the street to his car. "There's something I've been wanting to ask you," he informed.

"Oh yeah what's that?" She asked.

"You'll have to see when we get to our next stop," he replied with a grin.

Bella smiled as she held onto his hand when they saw a bunch of guys standing in front of Edward's Volvo. "Well, a little rich kid and his girlfriend, how cute," the leader sneered. Edward took off his jacket and placed it around Bella to keep the men from staring.

"Let's just go around them," she whispered.

He wrapped his arm around her waist as they went to move around the group, they would get back to his car once they were gone. "Hey, hey, where do you think you're going, the party's about to begin," one of the guys commented.

"Please move aside," Edward answered.

"Ooh how proper," the leader laughed.

Bella bit her lower lip as Edward pulled her even closer, if it were at all possible. "I think we can have a lot of fun with these two," the leader of the group commented. The group cackled in agreement. Edward reached into his pants' pocket and pulled out the keys to his car.

"Here, just take the keys to my car and go," he told them.

The leader laughed. "Boy if we wanted the car we would've take it," he answered. Bella bit her lower lip as she gripped his arm. Edward saw the way the men were staring at Bella and felt the bile rise in his throat and he glared at them.

"Come on Bella," he whispered.

They tried again to walk by them when the group blocked their path. "Get out of our way," Edward ordered.

"And what are you going to do about it?" One of them asked.

Edward punched him in the face. "Bella run!" he told her. He pushed her past the group.

"Get after her!" The leader ordered as Bella ran down the street.

Edward tried to fight off the rest of the group, hoping that he was keeping them from getting Bella. He heard a loud pop and then what felt like fire rip through his abdomen. "EDWARD!" He heard Bella scream.

Bella was heading into one of the shops there when she suddenly heard a loud pop. Her heart stopped and looked back over at the group to see Edward falling to the ground. "EDWARD!" She screamed. The storekeeper who saw the panicked girl came out with a bat when the group ran off laughing. Bella ran over to Edward, dropping to her knees by him. "Edward, Edward," she insisted, her hands on his face.

"I'll call 911," the storekeeper informed.

Bella was trying to get him to wake up. She pressed her hand against his abdomen, tears pressing hard against her eyes. "Don't leave me, please, please don't leave me," she told him, her voice cracking.